Combining the functionality of the KARL STORZ integrated operating room, OR1®, with intraoperative MRI technology gives surgeons the ability to perform an MRI scan to provide detailed images of the brain at key points during surgery. The MRI equipment can be used at the same time the procedure is being performed within the operating suite. This allows for more accurate localization and targeting, as well as complete resection of tumors while safeguarding surrounding tissues.

Previously, surgeons could not confirm complete removal of a tumor until the patient had recovered from the procedure. If a post-operative MRI scan then indicated that any portion of the tumor remained, the patient would be required to undergo another surgery.

The system at Cook Children’s Medical Center is the first installation of its kind to comprise a fully integrated OR (rather than a cart-based system) and to use all-digital high-definition (HD) video technology. All images, including PACS, vital signs, endoscope and microscope images, utilize the highest native resolutions. The hospital’s IMAGE 1 HD video cameras and display provide true HD with 1080p signaling.

The installation at Swedish Medical Center is similar to the one at Cook Children’s Medical Center, except the magnet is fixed in the operative field. Both solutions use fiber technology to eliminate interference with the MRI magnet.

“The innovative technologies now in place at these institutions may lead to a truly dramatic shift in their approach to minimally invasive therapy techniques,” says Malone, “and will undoubtedly lead to the development of new surgical strategies and approaches.”